Babies Hemorrhage After Parents Refuse Vitamin K Shots

Babies Hemorrhage After Parents Refuse Vitamin K Shots

Skipping a certain shot could put your newborn at risk for developing a brain bleeding disorder.

Vitamin K is needed by our bodies for blood clotting and it’s one of the first shots offered to newborns. More parents are choosing to skip shots and not vaccinate their children, believing it’s unhealthy and unnecessary. Now the CDC is reporting as surge of cases of life-threatening brain bleeds in babies who weren’t vaccinated. When the Shaker family had their twins, they decided against immunizations. Melissa Shaker told Ivanhoe, “Immunizations don’t seem very natural. So I just wanted to stay away from them at least for a year.”But two months after bringing the boys home, baby Silas turned very pale. “Like he looked like he was dying white. It was scary,” Melissa Shaker told Ivanhoe.Father of baby Silas, Mark Shaker told Ivanhoe, “One of the first questions that was asked of her in the hospital was did you get the vitamin K shot?”The Shakers hadn’t. Silas had vitamin K deficiency and suffered multiple brain bleeds. Typically the blood clotting disorder only affects 1 in 100,000 babies. But Silas is 1 of 7 cases Vanderbilt doctors have seen in the last year. Mark Shaker said, “Had we known some of these things, we could have made smarter decisions.” Pediatric Hematologist, Robert Sidonio, Jr. MD, Msc. of Vanderbilt University told Ivanhoe, “Thankfully he was one of the cases that we’d seen after we’d already seen a couple of cases and so we gave vitamin K immediately to this child.”Doctor Sidonio believes the numbers could surge in the future because of the trend of parents refusing immunizations. Sidonio told Ivanhoe, “Probably somewhere in the range of 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000 kids will develop this.”While doctors were able to stop the bleeding in Silas, he has to take medications for seizures and he’s in physical therapy to retrain his left side. Mark Shaker told Ivanhoe, “Only time will tell. You know, will he respond to therapy? Will there be any other residual side effects of this?” To be safe, Silas’ twin Abel was also treated and is doing fine.Doctor Sidonio says many parents have declined the vitamin K shot because of a single study circulated on the internet linking it to leukemia. But he says at least 10 studies since then have shown there is absolutely no link.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin K is an important factor in helping our blood clot. Blood clots help prevent the body from excessively bleeding. Many people take dietary supplements, however vitamin K is not typically one of them. Vitamin K1 can be found in leafy greens and some other vegetables, while vitamin K2 can be found in meats, eggs and cheeses. It is seen as typical to give newborn babies a shot of vitamin K when they are born, however some people refuse to do this which could actually be dangerous to the newborn. While the mother can eat as much as she wants of food rich in vitamin K it won’t make a difference to the baby. This is because vitamin K doesn’t travel easily across the placenta from the mother to the child. Also, once the baby is born it still doesn’t receive much vitamin K because breast milk doesn’t contain much. (Source: http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/supplement-guide-vitamin-k and http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007320.htm and http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007320.htm )

HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE IN NEWBORNS: This is developed because of a lack of vitamin K. Without the shot there hemorrhagic disease is much more likely. It can be seen in three different categories. * Early onset hemorrhagic disease is rare for newborns, but develops in the first few hours of birth. It is often caused by blood thinners or anti-seizure drugs taken during pregnancy.

* Classic onset disease is also rare and is seen often in newborns who breastfeed and don’t get their vitamin K shot within a week of being born.

* The late onset form is more common in children who didn’t receive the vitamin K shot, and also in newborns of Asian descent. It is seen in infants older than 2 weeks up to 2 months old. Newborns are also more likely to develop this disease if they suffer from alpha1-antitryspin deficiency, biliary atresia, celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, diarrhea, or hepatitis. (Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007320.htm ) ? For More Information, Contact:Craig BoernerMedia Director, National News Director Vanderbilt University Medical CenterPhone: 615-322-4747craig.boerner@vanderbilt.edu